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Show 338 Measurement* of the molar teeth of UASUS AKCTOS tt tar. 1 r 13345 3318 000 7401 3630 6905 3537 3536 3538 6557 6548 7146 4441 1033 Locality. Big Porcupine Creek, Mont. Medicine Bow Mountain*, Wash. Copper Mines, V. Mez...... do.: do; do do Russia Northern Sweden Sex. Upper first molar. i 0.60 0.57 0.60 0.67 0.73 0.67 0.65 0.65 0.55 0.66 0.57 0.63 0.68 0.63 5 0.53 0.48 0.54 0.53 0.65 0.53 0.50 0.51 0.45 0.51 0.45 0.48 0.57 0.40 Upper second molar. i 3 0.91 0.74 0.99 0.91 0.97 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.87 0.95 0.88 0.93 0.94 0.90 3 0.63 0.60 0.70 0.65 0.75 0.64 0.69 0.67 0.66 0.70 0.64 0.65 0.73 0.65 Upper third molar. i 1.40 L36 1.35 1.50 L66 1.56 1.53 1.43 1.35 L37 1.41 1.40 1.40 1.97 1 5 0.65 0.67 0.70 0.74 0.75 0.80 0.75 0.73 0.67 0.70 0.68 an 0.75 0.67 Bemarka. Subcp. horribQii. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. " riehardtonL" Do. Do. anto$. Do. URSUS AMEEIOANDS. Seventeen skulls of this species, embracing all the aged ones in the collection, seem to indicate a slight increase in size to the southward. Four aged skulls from Louisiana and Florida range in length from 12.50 to 13.10, and three others, more or less immature, would doubtless have attained an equal size had they lived to be as old. A Georgia specimen, also not full- grown, has a length of 11.15, and in old age would probably have considerably exceeded 12.00. The other specimens, all full- grown and some of them very old, range from 9.90 to 12.15, most of them falling between 10.25 and 11.75. The largest ( 12.15) is from Paget Sound. A New York specimen comes next in size ( 11.90); New Mexican specimens next, the Alaskan being the smallest. This certainly points to * southward increase in size; but a much larger series would, of course, be necessary in order to establish positively whether the increase is in this direction. It would seem natural to expect it to be so, since the Bear is a hibernating animal, and is active for a much shorter period in northern than in southern localities. It seems worthy of remark that only a small proportion of the skulls of Bears, and even of other Carnivora, including the Minks, Otters, and Martens, seen in collections, are specimens of mature age. The proportion of fully adult and very aged specimens is much greater among those from the unsettled parts of the continent than among those from the older States, owing, doubtless, to these animals being so closely hunted in the more settled districts that they rarely live to a very great age. |
